Runs In The Family
by titaniumOvaries
Summary: He thought it was over, but the Beldam wasn't finished yet, and now it's up to Coraline's descendant to finish what her grandmother started. Yet, frankly, he has his doubts. / / A oneshot incorporating elements from both the novel and movie.


With a gulp, the little girl bent over the hidden door. Her tiny body trembled with a terror so evident it caused the cat beside her to notice, for the hundredth time, how completely different from her grandmother she was.

Coraline, he remembered, had been solemn and thoughtful when faced with this decision, while the child beside him was shivering with terror at the mere prospect of going in _there _and facing _it _again. If it weren't for the vast differences between the two girls, it would almost have seemed like déjà vu.

With this in mind, the black cat began to wash his paw in a thoughtful manner, wondering if this new girl had what it took to finish what her grandmother had started. As his rough tongue smoothed out the patted fur, he couldn't help but doubt her ability to destroy the Beldam, once and for all.

From under his paw he sneaked a quick peek at her. She was sitting in front of the door, now, clutching the key in her shaking hand, her lip quivering. She placed the key into the keyhole in the door, but, second-guessing herself, took it out. After a few moments of silence, again she put the key into the keyhole, but she did nothing to unlock the door.

Whether it was old age making him soft or the eerie familiarity with the current situation, something made the cat soften up inside and say to the girl, "A long, long time ago," his raspy voice mewed, "when I was younger than I am now, I knew a girl who one morning woke up to find her parents gone.

"She didn't know what to do at first, but eventually she supposed that they were off at work and had forgotten to tell her, or something of the kind had happened. At any rate, she made her own meals and played by herself and watched TV and put herself to bed, all alone in her house, but her parents never came back."

She was watching him intently, now, and the cat noticed with a small hint of self-satisfaction that her trembling had ceased. Naturally goose bumps still dotted her skinny little arms like the tacky polka-dot curtains her mother had set up, but that was only natural, and with that in mind the cat continued: "It came to a point where she simply couldn't deny it any longer. She had to realize that there was no way her parents were coming back on their own, and she had to take action for them." He paused for effect.

"And… how did she go about saving them?" The girl asked, her brown eyes wide. It was in that moment that the differences between grandmother and granddaughter were the most evident. Physically, they bore not even the smallest hint of resemblance: Coraline was pale and fair, and her short, thin, dark blue hair was presented in a short cut. This girl's skin was a light caramel, and her long locks played across her back like thick red strands of yarn he so loved to play with. Yet, as the Other Mother taught so well, appearances weren't all to go on: Coraline was brave and confident, adventurous and particularly cheerful, considering the situations she found herself in. Her granddaughter had a sort of quiet, tentative strength, but—much to the Cat's chagrin—her own hesitance and self-consciousness prevented her from realizing her potential. He was already surprised that she hadn't already fallen victim to the Beldam's tricks.

_But it's never too late for that_, he thought.

Mentally shaking it away, he spoke: "She went to the creature that had taken them from her, that's what," a statement that earned a hard swallow from his companion.

"H-how brave of her," she muttered.

"No," the cat interrupted. "That wasn't brave."

Now she spun towards him with a face full of confusion and doubt, but before words could come out of her open mouth he spoke: "It wasn't brave of her to go in with the intention of getting them back—it's what had to be done. She had no other choice. What _was _brave was how she never gave up, how she kept fighting it until the very end, even when she had earned her parents back and saved the souls of the creature's other victims."

The girl's eyes spelled, _Come again?, _so he elaborated. "After she went in and bargained with the creature, agreeing to a game and playing by all of it's rules despite its wretched trickery, after she won fair and square and narrowly escaped its wrath, it still wouldn't let her go. But she kept her head and defeated it at it's own game…" it looked at her. "And now it's up to you to finish her job. Be as brave as she was."

A silence descended upon the little girl, and after what seemed like a long while, she finally spoke up in a quiet voice: "If you don't mind me asking… what was her name?"

Given his disposition, it was very rare for the cat to ever smile, but at the thought of the courageous little girl he had known so long ago, his eyes gave a small shine and the corners of his lips turned upwards automatically. "Coraline," he told her.

The little girl seemed to beam at the name, and for the shortest of moments he thought he could see a faint glimpse of Coraline in her.

She opened the door.


End file.
